Mostly dialogue… not supposed to be much of anything, really… Something just bothered me about the panel where the bullet passed through earth and you see the sheep in GSAXM #1. I suppose you could call it a one-shot.)

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"There's a mutant in New Zealand."

Scott looked at Emma, raised an eyebrow that just cleared his visor. The blonde-haired, blue-eyed beauty only looked back, awaiting his response.

"I thought they were all in the U.S.?"

"There's one there. Cerebra just picked her up."

"Her?"

"Yes. Quite interesting really. The signature is very unique."

"Unique?"

"Quite.

"Another baby?"

"No."

"Let's go get the others."

#

The first thing she became aware of was the strange beeping noise to her left. The methodical beep was a sound she thought she should know. It was a strange sound. And it was a little annoying. The second thing she became aware of was the air shooting into her nose whenever she took a breath and the hissing sound from behind her. It dried her parched mouth with every breath she took. It was annoying too.

The blackness in front of her eyes gradually faded to purple and then to pink and she slowly opened her eyes. She didn't know what she was expecting when she awoke. Blinking under the florescent lights she wondered how she had ended up…where ever it was that she had ended up. It seemed to her that she would remember how she'd wound up in a bed with guardrails.

There was a needle in her arm. That alarmed her and the beep, beep, beep of the machine to her left sped up as her heart did. A needle. In her arm. Needle. Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God. Her breath hitched, and spots appeared before her eyes. She felt it pushing fluids in her vein, the tiny bite as she moved. In her arm. A needle. She was in a hospital. That much was obvious when a nurse came in.

#

"What should we expect?" Hank asked his leaders as he and Cyclops set the Blackbird down on a strip of barren land. He gazed out at the landscape, the mountains in distance and was taken aback by the majestic beauty of the place. "No wonder they shoot so many movies here," he commented offhandedly.

"We weren't expecting the massacre in Alaska," Cyclops told him. And it was Cyclops speaking and not Scott. Since the move to San Francisco, they saw a lot less Scott than they did Cyclops. Cyclops had made it his life's mission to become more like Magneto, Hank thought, but did not say anything to him. He wouldn't just yet.

"True," he said. "We don't expect a lot of things. I was merely curious as to what type of powers we would be up against should there be the inevitable fist-a-cuffs."

Piotr leaned forward in his seat. "Her?" His mind spun with possibilities, even hope.

"As I said, I cannot be sure."

"Katschen?" Kurt ventured, even he sounded hopeful.

Hank lowered the hatch, and Piotr was the first one out.

"Dammit, Emma, you shouldn't have said anything," Cyclops said as he continued to power down the Blackbird. "Angel, Nightcrawler, Armor and Wolverine, go intercept him before he can do any damage."

The others nodded quietly and quickly exited the craft.

#

"Who-who are you?"

He was quiet a moment. It never occurred to him that she wouldn't remember him, wouldn't remember them.

"My name is Piotr Nikoleivitch Rasputin."

"Why are you here?"

"To bring you back. To bring you home. Rescue you."

"From the needle in my arm?"

"You wish to be rescued from the needle in your arm?"

"I'm sorry, sir, but you cannot be here."

"Wait, he says he knows me. You know me right?"

"Family only."

"I'm—" Piotr wants to lie and tell the nurse that he's her husband and that he should be there, but hesitates. She would not want to be lied to.

"We are her family."

"Scott, darling, we're causing a scene."

"Kurt?"

"Ja."

The young woman shrinks away from the fuzzy blue demon-like man and Kurt is reminded of the young girl who first joined the X-men so many years ago. He is quick and methodical, as he's had to give his fair share of IVs as his tenure as former leader of two groups, the X-men in Storm and Cyclops absence and Excalibur. The needle is out of Kitty's arm and pressure applied before it can bleed or bruise.

"I will not harm you, Katschen."

"Is my name Katya or Katschen?"

A toothy grin meets her question before the answer is given. "You have the most nicknames of us all. You are Katherine Pryde, Shadowcat of the X-men. And we are bringing you home."

#

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